It’s a complex procedure that can have a big payoff.
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby carriage…right? Well, not always, as Jeff and Lynn Haring found out.
"I come from a big family and my older sisters — they had their kids a little older too," Lynn said.
Lynn and Jeff actually fell in love ten years ago, but wanted to travel before starting a family.
In 2005 they got married and started trying to have a baby soon after.
"You assume it’ll happen and then time passes by month after month and you get start getting worried like uh oh," explained Lynn.
"And then we started doing timing, all the things you can do naturally, to try you know, time the ovulations. And do the ovulation testing," Jeff said.
They also tried "relaxing" per friends advice.
"So we go to Molokai, nothing to do there right? Ha ha, Kauai, little trips," Lynn said.
That didn’t work – neither did yoga, acupuncture, or feng shui.
Finally, after all else failed, they turned to infertility specialist Dr. Benton Chun at IVF Hawaii.
"People are waiting longer now to get pregnant. In in vitro fertilization, almost 60% of the people are over age 35," Dr. Chun said.
In vitro fertilization is a process by which eggs are fertilized by sperm outside the body.
As an embryologist, Pauline Balazy gets to randomly pick the single sperm that gets injected into the egg.
"It’s definitely a very rewarding job," Pauline said.
Helping couples like Lynn and Jeff, but the procedure isn’t guaranteed.
Lynn and Jeff actually started doing IVF three years ago.
"The first one didn’t work, the second one wasn’t viable, (miscarriage) after 8 weeks. And the third one didn’t work," Lynn said.
"Mostly it was her age," Dr. Chun said.
Lynn was 38 when she went to see Dr. Chun.
"The older a person gets they have fewer eggs and fewer normal eggs," Dr. Chun explained.
Dr. Chun says a 35-year old woman has up to a 50-percent chance of getting pregnant.
A 40-year old – 20-percent.
And a 45-year old – a one-percent chance of getting pregnant.
Under Hawaii law, insurance companies must cover most of the costs of only the first IVF attempt.
But luckily, Lynn and Jeff’s insurance has covered their first, second, third, and even fourth try.
Without insurance, it can cost $10,000 to $15,000 per try.
It can also take an emotional toll.
"I got to the point where I started researching adoption," Lynn said.
But then, during the fourth attempt – It happened.
"Coming soon to a hospital near you," joked Jeff.
Their baby boy, who still doesn’t have a name, is due in about five weeks.
"So it’s pretty cool, we’re going to be parents!" Lynn said.
Proving that love can conquer and triumph against great odds with help from science.
"I always thought it would work somehow," she said.
These days, many couples are turning to "in vitro fertilization" to have a baby.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
